1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to improvements in a large diameter flexible pipe joints and methods of installation of underwater pipes on the ocean floor.
2. Description of Related Art
It is well known in the art to shape the ends of pipes to balls and to connect the spherical ends by a socket having inner spherical surfaces so that a point flexible in all directions is formed.
These kinds of couplings are commonly used in the dredging industry for the connections of floating pipelines. In general, one pipe is provided with a male end or ball joint and the adjacent fitting pipe end is provided with a female end or spherical socket. There have been some attempts to provide pipes with ball joint ends which are joined together with a socket coupling. U.S. Pat. No. 2,175,712 to (Westermayer) is a sheetmetal overlapping joint whereby the ends of the pipe are expanded to form the ball and a sheetmetal coupling overlaps the balls to form the joint. This is not a watertight joint suitable for installation in deep water and withstanding lateral forces commonly found on the ocean floor. Other known related art include U.S. Pat. No. 1,782,484 to Spencer et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 2,689,752 to Webster, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,474,431 to Lipman et al. Such related art incorporates flares or expansion of pipe ends with bolting and clamping means not suitable for large diameter, for example, 36 inches to 60 inches, underwater pipes nor are they suitable for underwater installation of such pipes. Further, flared connections are generally rigid connections and do not provide the ability to rotate and change pipe direction without the use of special interconnecting fittings.